The fabric of this country I am proud to call my home is threaded with the good, the bad, the depths of hell and the glorious moments futbol gives us. However, these stories, especially beyond the top two clubs in the country are rarely told, or for that matter, translated.
The book I am working on is about those stories. An Atletico de Madrid president who had his own variety show on TV. A new Barcelona manager who said in his unveiling “Yesterday I was walking the cows home in my town, now I’m managing Barca.” A larger-than-life club now in the Second Division, who back in the 90s was causing chaos in La Liga under the nickname Queso Mecánico (Clockwork Cheese).
A Barcelona captain who switched sides and went to Real Madrid and chaos ensued, including fake money and a pig’s head thrown at him when he came back to the Camp Nou for his first Barcelona-Real Madrid match. I was there.
As a Spaniard who has spent half his life in the United States, I find myself in situations where I am missing concepts, jokes, points made due to a lack of local experiences, culture gaps, etc. I hate it when that happens. This book will hopefully help you bridge that gap, and watch, truly watch, and enjoy La Liga beyond the top two, beyond Messi and Ronaldo, and beyond 99% of the things you see and read that are tied to this wonderful competition.
Living in an English-speaking country for a couple of decades does bring something good for you and I, and this book: there is no need to translate. What you are reading here is coming from a Spaniard who grew up playing futbol on the streets of Vila-real, eating sunflower seeds in stadiums all over the country in the 90s (and yes, jamon sandwiches), and living through what it means to live, love, and experience La Liga.
This book will be arranged in clusters: the chaos of club ownership in Spain, the matches that meant a before and after in the league, the managers and players who defined an era; we will talk about small teams who made history against futbol giants, plays or goals worth a story, etc. And intertwined through it all, the culture, the strange, and the funny that surrounds the beautiful sport in Spain.
There are plenty of dry, tactic and stat-driven books out there; mine will be casual storytelling. Think of it as sitting at the bar in any restaurant in Vila-real, ordering a couple of tubos, and talking about futbol.
If yuo are interested in the book, subscribe below and I will kleep you updated on its release.
Thank you!
Cristian Salvador